Wish Right Now
by icanhascamaro
Summary: 16 year old Jade loves Transformers, and she owns a ton a movie memorabilia to prove it. On the night of her birthday, she makes a wish that they were real so she could save them from - what she considers - their own stupidity. She gets that wish, but she learns the hard way that fanfics don't always get everything right.
1. Chapter 1

chapter one - So there's this one time...

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**Disclaimer**: me, icanhascamaro, no own them Transformers, them Nissan, them Starbucks, them Sharpie, them Lamborghini, them Chik-Fil-A, or them Starbucks. Names belong to them, others, not me, icanhascamaro.

**A/N:** Who wanted a crazy story? I think it was you, specifically you, reading this on your cellphone! Then, by all means, please to enjoy!

**Actual A/N**: On a serious note, this story is set for a Halloween release date, but I decided to post chapter one as a little preview since I didn't have anything ready for _i hate snow _(and trust me, I've been trying!). This story is my twisted little version on the "Transfan wakes up and finds out Transformers are real" idea. While the story itself is fairly tongue-in-cheek, I've aimed for an ultra realistic look to it. Jade, my OC, thinks it's all sunshine and roses, but is it?

**Warnings: **Jade has a scootch of a potty mouth at the beginning. That is all.

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_Do you see these symbols all over my bedroom walls? They're the same ones from Sam's dorm room in Return of the Fallen. I know this because they were in my head. They - as in the __**symbols**__ \- helped me to know exactly where to place them, in exact correlation to the walls in Sam's dorm. Isn't it cool? Seriously, the symbols each told me precisely where they wanted to be on the walls. The location, the color of sharpie that I used, even the thickness of each stroke of my pen. T__hey hover__, you see, in front of the wall and all I do is trace over them. Neat, right? _

_I _**know**_! I used a silver sharpie though because it reminds me sooooo much of metal and cybertronians are metal and s...s...stuff._

_But this is my bedroom, not a dorm room. _

_This is real life, not a movie._

_And I have the knowledge of the Allspark flowing through my mind._

_It's almost m...m...more than I can process._

_Process. I need a processor to figure these thoughts out. I cannot...my human mind is simply not up to speed. It cannot go with the flow._

_I giggled at that because it was not funny and yet it was._

_I made a wish._

_I __**got**__ it._

_Pictures, words, __**symbols**__, all sped through my mind like warp speed on Star Trek. I couldn't keep up with it. My hands couldn't keep up with it. And my voice was no where near as f...fast as I needed it to be. _

_To put it simply, it was like a snail trying to keep pace with a Lamborghini. No. The snail was trying to __**be**__ a Lamborghini. It simply wasn't happening._

_Room, I needed room. My bedroom was too small. My mind was too small. _

_Ineededtoexpandnow._

_But I couldn't. I __**couldn't**__ upgrade myself to a bigger body, a bigger processor. Cybertronians were __**so**__ fragging lucky. I could see it in my head how lucky they were because the Allspark was s...s...showing it to me._

_I laughed again, full of hysteria. At this very moment, my parents were calling the doctors again, but I didn't care because they weren't __**my**__ parents. I wasn't even **from** this dimension. I was from __**my**__ dimension, the one where Cybertronians weren't real. In my dimension, my parents are divorced. I live with my dad. He's okay with buying me anything I want from the Transformers movies. Action figures, books, posters, bluray movies, soundtracks, and props. I have the Allspark in its cube form, and - get __**this**__ \- I have the Matrix of Leadership. I saw it on eBay one night and told my dad I would die without it. And my bff, Mandy, is also in on my obsession. She gave me a shard of the Allspark, and not the crappy plastic one sold at Universal Studios. This one was made by a fan, but it's totally custom made. It's actual engraved metal. _

_It wasn't until my birthday, which is ultra super special because it's on the summer solstice, when I made the wish that changed my life. _

_It wasn't on the birthday cake that I made THE wish. On my cake, I wished for a hard top Pontiac Solstice in silver, just like Jazz. I got that wish because I asked my dad for him (for Jazz, not for my dad) for my birthday present. I just turned sixteen and who __**doesn't**__ get a car on their super special awesome sweet sixteen? It's like the twenty first century or something. It's just what __**happens**__._

_So my wish i wish a life changing wish. I made the wish on a falling star that looked to me like it was a cometary entrance of a Cybertronian and oh how I __**wished**__ it was real and it could be me with Optimus or Ironhide or Ratchet or Starscream or Megatron (just not __**Dark of the Moon**__ Megatron because he's a fragging pussy) or..._

_POintless. I laughed again and collapsed on my bed. It gave me a view of my bedroom window and it was sooooooo funny because the layout of my bedroom in my dimension was exactly like this! Who knew?_

_Hee hee..._

_Oh, wait! The Allspark gave me __**another**__ gift, didyouknow?_

_Not only do I have all of the wisdom of the ages (Cybertron's ages, not humanity's), I can scan for them._

_Oh, yes, it's true! I can sense their sparks. I know when one is getting near me. It's almost like the heads up display from the War for Cybertron game I would play, like, __**every fragging day**__, where you could see incoming autobots or decepticons on a map in the corner of the screen. Only this is a knowing I can feel with my whole body. What's it feel like? It's a mix of awesome tingles (like when someone lightly runs their finger up your arm) and that warm fuzzy feeling you get from drinking a luscious cup of hot chocolate from Starbucks._

_Also I know that I read as the Allspark because it __**told me**__ so. It wants me to read as the Allspark because it wants to be found. I wants to be found so I can be found._

_And do you know who __**really**__ wants to find me? It's not Optimus i-love-giving-slagging-long-speeches Prime. _

_It's Megatron._

_Megatron is getting closer and I can't wait. He's going to pick at my brain for all of the knowledge that I have._

_Come on, Megatron. COme for me. _giggle_. come for me soon please_

_maybe i should go to the overlook instead of staying in my house. i don't want fake mom and dad to be pissed off if megatron wrecks the lawn. Or the house. maybe i sh...should at least go out to the backyard._

_I roll off my bed and waltz to the window. It overlooks the backyard, just like Sam's bedroom looks over his backyard. Except the house of this dimension is a r...r...ranch style house. It makes it easy to slip out of the house, which is exactly what I do, but I would've preferred the house i have with my dad in my dimension. That house is almost exactly like Sam'shouse, only it's a mediterranean style that looks like something in Calabasas and it's a mansion. It's totally gorge!_

_So, anyway, it's dark out and even the moon is hiding but it has an excuse because it's cloudy out. The grass is slightly damp from the sprinklers but it's thick underfoot. Let's hear it for professional lawn people. The backyard isn't huge, but it's big enough to fit a nice sized above-ground pool. M...m...my house in my dimension has an inground pool and a waterfall leading to the pool. Way better. No hot tub or jacuzzi (which are like the __**same**__ fragging thing, swear to Primus!) because they're gross mcnasty breeding grounds for all sorts of germs. Ick! _

_I walk around the pool, barely noting the transition from grass to concrete and back to grass as I walk beyond the pool. _

_No, we don't have a fence around the pool. No little kids h...h...here and the whole backyard is fenced in anyway. We don't have any pets either, which made me a little sad when I first woke up here. I had always wanted a dog, maybe a little chihuahua, but daddy always said no. No, Jade, I know you won't take care of it; No, Jade, end of story. It was the only thing I couldn't talk him into buying me. _

_Finally I reach the lone oak tree in the backyard and sit at its base. I'd climb it, but I'm no Katniss. I'd fall on my ass for sure, and that's no way to greet the Lord High Protector of Cybertron._

_He __**has**__ to be good once again. I'm gonna fix him. No more death, not under my watch._

_Megatron. he's getting c...c...closer. I can almost hear the roar from his engines. He's __**flying**__ here. My heart is fluttering with excitement. I don't think I need to utter this next wish, but I do._

_please don't be dark of the moon Megatron..._

* * *

_**Seven daaaaays (earlier)**_

Okay, so not only was it just the most _**gorge**_ Friday ever, like sunny and nary a cloud in sight, it was also the final day of school. My last day as a junior. I mean, I cannot even _begin_ to say how cool that is! Next year would finally be my turn to be a senior and have senioritis and ditch class on account that I, Jade Proctor, was a senior!

Not that I _would_ ditch any class, because Daddy said that I needed a scholarship to get into UCLA Berkley (I'd briefly considered Princeton, because Sam went there, but ick! It gets _**snow**_ in the winter there! Azzif!), but the idea of ditching class was there.

It was an _option_.

A giggle escaped me. I _loved_ tossing in quotes from the Transfomers movies into my daily speech. It only slightly annoyed my bff, Mandy Cooper, but whatever, right? She was totally in love with shows like _Big Brother_ and _Keeping up with the Kardashians_. At least having an interest in mechanical things (like an advanced sentient robotic species, hel_lo_!) was better than makeup and backstabbing. Okay, so _maybe_ I liked watching those shows, just a little, but I'd never admit it! Not to anyone but Mandy, anyway. Oh my Primus! The Kardashians are people, too! It's so much fun to see how they live their lives. And I totally swear to Primus himself that my house looks a little like Kris Jenner's house! I know! Okay, so maybe it's more exact;u like the house they use for the jury house in _Big Brother_ but bigger. Whatev!

Right, so, Mandy. People never really had a clue how we were bffs, but we'd been friends since fragging grade school. We swore then and there that we'd always have each other's backs. It was almost like that whole sandbox love thing in the movie _Jennifer's Body_, but without all that lesbian stuff. Gross!

A car horn sounded behind me and I spun around with a grin. Speak of the slagger! I ran down the stairs leading from the quad towards the parking lot. The Autobot and Decepticon logos I had attached to my Coach backpack jingled against each other with each step. They weren't actually just logos. They were metal necklaces I got off of eBay. I reused them as decorations. Neat! And since it was the last day of school, Mandy's mom let her borrow her red Nissan 350Z. The little sports car was no Jazz, but it was a similar size. It was Nissan Jazz with a sunburn, lol!

Opening the passenger's door, I slipped in and held my backpack on my lap. It was small, which was great, because Nissan Jazz was small, too. "Last day!" Nissan Jazz's door thunked cutely as I shut the door.

"I know!" Mandy chuckled. "Wanna stop at Chik-Fil-A to celebrate?"

"Chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and a chocolate milkshake?"

"A wrap for me." Mandy was all smiles as she threw the car in drive. "And then what?"

"Wanna eat at the Overlook?"

Mandy groaned but nodded. "Yeah."

"Sweet! Let's go!"

The Overlook, so named by me, even though it didn't overlook anything because it was barely a hill, and it was a hill that didn't even have the slightest bit of a cliff to it, and it even faced south, of _all_ directions. Sadly it wasn't THE Overlook, like from the movies, because while I lived in California, it wasn't Tranquility. Even so, I was so glad my dad decided to live in a warm state like California and not someplace that wasn't warm. Thank Primus for that! I'd totally hate it if I lived in a city where it snowed. Yuck! I hate snow! Not that I've ever _**been**_ in it, but I just know I'd hate it.

Mandy's mom's 350 Z's engine made the cutest sounds as we drove to the nearest "Eat Moor Chikn" location. On the way there, I was imagining if Bay had used Nissan along with GM for the alt modes of the Cybertronians. I mean, how cool, right? I bet if they brought Jazz back (I know, I know, dream on! waaaah!) sexy ass Jazz could use the Nissan 350Z as an alt (because the 370Z is just weird looking). Totally cute!

Mandy ordered for me because, like the world's greatest bff ever, she knows _exactly_ what I want. If I had a car (hint hint hopefully soon!), I'd be the one ordering and I know exactly what she likes to eat here. She gets the turkey wrap, but asks for it to be made without lettuce. I know, it's _so_ not healthy, but a girl has to eat. May as well be what you like. Still, the girl is thin as a rail, and she's my constant motivation for staying skinny. Thinspo, thy name is Mandy! And to boot, she's super nice! Everyone loves her.

Once our order was delivered (and this is a _fast_ fast food place, let me tell you what!), Mandy obligingly steered Nissan Jazz towards the Overlook. While we didn't have an ocean or a fantastic ocean beach (we're too far inland for a Cali view like that), we did have a nice lake to look at. Kids would gather here to party, make-out, hook up, whatever. You know, we're kids, so we do whatever we can get away with. Ooh, fireworks. Sometimes kids light up fireworks here. It's about five minutes off the main road, and about ten minutes outside of town, located in a city owned park. It's nice, but a little bit country feeling. So totally not big city like Mission City is...and fyi, LA stands in for Mission City in the movie. It's true! Look at the Wikipedia page. They _totally_ point out all the LA signs and buildings and stuff. And besides, LA neighborhoods don't look anything like neighborhoods in Nevada. Helllo, cowboy ghost town, much?

After stopping at one of the parking spots on the small hill that overlooked the lake, Mandy put Nissan Jazz into park and began doling out the food. The smell of waffle fries and chicken was insane. I rolled down my window and Mandy's (because Nissan Jazz has the window controls on the center console. Nissan Jazz is thoughtful like that) and a breeze drifted into the car. It's not that I didn't like the smell of chicken and fries, but it was getting a bit much. I hadn't eaten since lunch, and that was a teeny salad.

"And one order of fries for you," Mandy shoved a small container of fries my way, which I grabbed and put on a napkin I'd folded out over my lap. A small box and a foam cup followed it.

It was a bit of a shuffle, but I managed thanks to a nice cupholder that was close by. I balanced the fries and chicken on my napkin covered lap, and reached over to dig into the bag for the ketchup. "Don't you just love these containers?" I pulled back the lid on the ketchup container. Heinz was a clever, clever company to design these ketchup packets. You could tear one corner and squirt the ketchup out or pull back the entire lid and dip your food in the ketchup. Nifty!

"Yeah, they're really...super awesome." Mandy dunked a fry in her own container and ate it almost absentmindedly.

Being the super bff that I am, I picked up on her moods. "What's up?"

She looked over with eyes that were wide for a second, then normal. "Nothing, just thinking." And then she smiled at me. Her eyes, lined with expertly placed, utterly _gorge_, metallic teal blue liquid liner, almost looked sad. She was definitely hiding something. I mean, her hair, which normally was stick straight due to an awesome straightener, was almost frizzing in areas. Frizz was always a sign that something was wrong with one's bff.

"Is it finals?"

"No," she sighed. "I know I aced the tests, so I'm not really worried about if I go through to the next grade."

"Then what is it?" It dawned on me and my jaw almost fell to my knees. "Oh, slag, you're not worried about what to get me for my birthday, are you? You know, the party that happens to be _**tomorrow night**_."

As she had taken a bite of her wrap, I waited patiently for her to answer. When she did, I was not disappointed. "No, I already have your gift. It's...it's something else."

Ugh, the guessing was making my stomach hurt! I almost didn't want to eat anymore! "Is it dire?"

She scrunched up her face. "No, not really."

"Okay then!" Relief spread through me and the anxiety twisting my stomach into bitty bits vanished. "Let's eat!"

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Isn't Jade just super nice? Okay, and maybe she's also a little annoying, but she's meant to be that way. I know she seems a bit cracked out, but trust me, it'll make sense in the end.

So, this is kind of a rough draft, I know. I posted it mainly to see what everyone thought of it. Anyone catch my nod to _The Ring_? It's got nothing to do with this story. I promise!

Please leave all thoughts and comments in a review! kthxbai!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two - Party hearty, me harties!

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**Disclaimer** \- I do not own the Cheesecake Factory, the Spice Girls, MAC products (the company anyway, I do own several MAC cosmetic products), Pepsi, Chik-Fil-A, Christian Louboutin, Pontiac, Burberry, David Tuterra, David Guetta, or Coke.

And according to Jade, no one should own Coke.

Like, _**ever**_.

**Serious** **A/N**: Sorry for the delay. It was completely unavoidable. My dad's cat got sick somehow, had severe breathing issues, and - no joke - he was in a kitty ER for three days. He was on oxygen, antibiotics, and came home Halloween evening. Needless to say, i wasn't able to write, which pissed me off because I'd really wanted this to be my Halloween fic. Then other RL things happened and yay, I get to post this now. Two months after I wanted to.

I hope you all like it.

Also, part one, I noticed how similar Jade is to Bluestreak. This is not an error on my part in how I created her. It was intentional. Kind of. Needless to say, she's on a natural high. She's not on any medications and she doesn't have ADHD. She's just got a _**lot **_of energy. I feel bad for her dad :D

Also, part two, today is my birthday! Happy sweet, er...twenty ninth...yes, let's go with twenty nine, glitches! Happy Winter Solstice to all of you!

**Fun Fact: **For those of you who don't like that it gets dark so soon in the evening, from today on, it stays brighter a minute longer each day. My birthday present to all of you ;)

Go, read, enjoy! Leave a birthday present review, please thank you?

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My birthday party was going to be the _best_. _Party_. _**Ever**_.

Even though daddy couldn't get the Spice Girls (hey, they are awesome and so retro it makes them even more awesome than normal awesome!) to play my party, he did get one of the hottest DJ's in LA to come and spin records or whatever it is that they do. The guy stopped by yesterday for a test run and he had actual records and made them scratch and make cool effects and stuff.

To add to that, daddy had a decorator deck out the pool with a bridge and little floaty lights in my favorite colors (red and blue, and yellow and black, and neon green and silver - if you're sensing a Cybertronian color scheme theme, go to the head of the class! Even though school is over, lolz!) were dancing on the glimmering water's surface. And then there were soft white fairy lights strung all over the gazebo and the fences, and he even got the valet staff that works for the local Cheesecake Factory to help park my guest's cars.

Uh-_**may**_-zing!

And even though my dad had totally put his foot down in favor of **NO ALCOHOL**! (because we're so under age! And I don't like the taste of alcohol anyway, it's so gross!) he got so much soda it was ridiculous. Pepsi products only, though, none of that ickles Coke stuff here. The food was catered by an LA company (we're only like, a half an hour or forty five minute or so away from LA), and dad got desserts from the Cheesecake Factory, which was awesome because who doesn't like the CF? I don't know the name of the catering place, but they made different dishes like melt in your mouth buttery rich filet mignon, some kind of very flavorful and flaky fish, and to die for seasoned chicken so tender it almost tasted better than Chik-Fil-A chicken. No, really. Almost better than _**that**_. I know, right? Right!

You know, I was half hoping daddy might have gotten David Tuterra (for those of you who don't know him, he's a major hottie who does absolutely magical decorating for parties and weddings and junk), but he was busy. Sad. So I did the party planning myself! Except for the food and entertainment and decorating. I bossed people around, said where to put the lights and stuff. It was fun! I could totally probably get into this for a career. Wait. Bossing sounds bossy and mean. I _directed_ people. Hey, I wonder if that means I can be a director? And then I can make a really awesome Transformers movie done right, where none of the Cybertronians die (except for Sentinel because he's a pig), and things work out to where they're working together and it's like the war never ever happened.

Genius, I _know_. I'm just like that.

So while my guests were arriving, and dropping off gifts into daddy's home office (which is right near the front door), I was upstairs with Mandy and we were both getting ready. We'd done each others hair (her hair was stick straight and mine was in loose curls) and makeup (she got a smokey eye and I wanted something fairy like with glitter). Both of us have long hair, like middle of the back long, so it took a bit of time, but it was _so_ worth it!

We didn't get dressed together, because that would be weird, but she did use my bathroom while I got dressed in my big walk in closet. It wasn't hard to pick what to wear, because I had gotten my dress ages ago, like a week or so. I kind of fibbed and told my dad to expect all A's, because that was the only way to get this stupidly expensive silver sequined shift dress, even though I maybe should've said he should expect all C's...

with a possible D...

or two...

Maybe an F, but whatever, right? It's my _birthday_!

_Sweet fragging sixteen, glitches!_

I'd distributed invitations three weeks ago, to give people way more than enough time to find appropriate gifts (which is the price of admission. No gift, no party!). And luckily for me, because sad face I'm not _that_ popular, kids in my boring snooze fest town live for an excuse to party. It livens up the place.

After stepping into my Louboutin pumps, I studied my reflection in my tall floor to my height mirror with a critical eye. Thumping bass from the large speakers outside thudded through even into my closet. Luckily my neighbors are at my party or they'd be pissed! So anyway, my blonde hair was perfectly curled into loose, pre-straighener Taylor Swift-like curls, and it fell to my bra strap. The dress was clingy in the right spots, and it looked great even though it had straps. Dad insisted on straps, saying that strap_less_ was too trampy.

No, not trampy like slutty trampy. Anyway, I'm still a virgin because there's just no one in my school that's even remotely cute enough to do sex with. I mean, there are some cute guys, but who wants to end up stuck in this kind of a town? Like, with a baby and no future and stuff?

And...where was I going with this? Oh, my make up! So Mandy has a really great hand for make-up. She should probably do this full time, like with movies or helping models for photoshoots. She professionally applied light baby blue glitter eyeshadow, although the glitter was more of a shimmer, illuminating cream on my cheekbones and forehead (for an ethereal look, not that sweaty sweat look), and expertly applied mascara (and maybe a few fake MAC lashes). It was wonderful! I _**loooooove**_ MAC makeup!

My Christian Louboutin heels (silver to match my dress and also the color of my fave mech Jazz!) reminded me of how they were so well worth the price as I confidently stalked back into my room. These shoes were not only gorgeous to look at, they were so comfortable! I only wish they were a peep toe so I could show off the pedi that went with my mani. Speaking of which, my mani was a shimmery pearl-like french manicure and I didn't need tips because my nails are naturally long. All I had added was a Swarovski crystal to each nail. I spritzed on some Body by Burberry and waited for Mandy.

Luckily for her, I didn't have to wait too long, otherwise I'd have left. No, just kidding! It's _so_ birthday girl to have a grand and/or late entrance. My stomach growled a bit. I hadn't eaten anything today (except for a couple of brownies I snatched from the caterer's trays) due to all the last minute stuff.

Mandy walked into my room, in borrowed black Louboutins (which were a sleek satin kitten heel open toe slingback), and smiled. "How do I look?"

"Not better than me, but close!" It was a compliment, I swear! Mandy was wearing a sapphire blue ombre, one shoulder dress that had crystals at the hemline where it became a light blue color. "That's a hot dress." I let her borrow it because we're the same size (okay, she's a little thinner) and nothing she had looked just right (because I totally had her back in making sure she looked super awesome), so she "shopped" at Jade's Designer Closet Emporium! Yay!

"Thanks!" Mandy grinned and spun.

"Not quite girl on fire, but ugh, that's a great dress," I stood up and bit lightly at my lower lip. Lightly, because I didn't want to reapply my lip glass. It's a shade called Cellopink that MAC doesn't sell any more (which is _way_ beyond stupid, MAC) and I only used it on way special occasions. Megan Fox used it in her other awesome movie, _Jennifer's Body_, and I so had to have it! She's so great. I almost dyed my hair dark brown, because it looks so great on Megan. Mandy has long dark hair, but it's more Kardashian dark than Megan Fox dark, because Mandy loves the Kardashian sisters. They're her girl crush, totally, while Megan is my girl crush. And what girl doesn't have a girl crush to motivate her in her daily routines? Mine used to be Mila Kunis, but I was so over her after she hooked up with Ashton Kutcher. I mean, hello, he was with that old chick. So not cool!

"Hey, before we go, I have something to say."

It was the tone of her voice that got me. It was the same way that she sounded, right before she told me her parents wouldn't buy her a kitten. Total _heartbreak_.

My stomach was in my throat when I turned around. "W...what is it?"

She frowned a little, and we tried really hard make sure that we never did that because, hello, frown lines. "I know I shouldn't tell you this now, but I can't risk someone else telling you!"

"Oh. My. _Primus_." It was _so_ clear it was ridiculous. "You're _pregnant_, aren't you?"

"What?" Her eyes bulged, as I suspected her tummy would soon do, too. "Jade!"

"It's okay, Mandy," I walked over and hugged her. "Just make sure I'm her godaunty and name her after me and everything will be okay."

"I'm not pregnant!" She sighed. "I only wish it was that easy."

"Easy?" I blinked. "It's worse than pregnant?"

"Way worse," Mandy took a deep breath and sighed it out. "I'm moving, Jade."

"What?" My stomach dropped into my feet. "For serious?"

"Dixie Chicks serious," Mandy's lower lip trembled. She only quoted _Pitch Perfect_ when she was really feeling emotional.

"When?" I wanted to sit on my bed, but I was so shocked that I couldn't move.

"In a week."

"Well, we can still see each other, right?" I sniffled. "You're going, what, across town?"

"No."

"_Next_ town over?" I was aghast. The other town wasn't bad but it wasn't better than here.

"Try the East Coast."

My stomach was in the basement. "I almost wish you said you were pregnant."

* * *

We made it downstairs in time for my big announcement (of my arrival, nothing like pregnancy...or worse, _moving_) and people clapped and cheered obligingly. I plastered a huge smile on my face and cheered right back. Mandy's news was utterly depressing, but I couldn't let that ruin my big day. Dad had gone through a lot to plan this with my help and I wasn't going to waste it.

Plus, _hello_, car!

Things went by in a blur (get it! Blurr! rotfl). Dinner, dessert, gift accepting, and then dancing, dancing, and more dancing out on the huge back stone patio/pool area. The music pumped around us and I danced with boy after boy, and even though they were so fragging cute it almost blew my mind, my mind was stuck on the fact that my BFF 4ever was moving!

_**NEXT WEEK!**_

And by next week, I meant Wednesday! That was like, five days away, or something.

Suddenly, in the middle of a dance that had the music of David Guetta's _Titanium_ blasting the area, it was cut off with the screeching sound of a needle being dragged across a record. As in olde timey record and needle. Really, it wasn't even a sound effect. It was a for reals needle across an actual record.

It was then that I realized I'd been danced near the driveway that wrapped around to the side of the house. Then my dad's voice was booming over the speakers. "Jade, honey, I know you had your heart set on seeing Optimus Prime or Ironshine or another Transformer..."

That's right, everyone knew about my Transformer's obsession! I was the fragging Queen of Cybertron at my school. I was secretly Queen of the Nerds, too, lol. As in they totally helped me with my math and science stuff, even if it was really difficult to keep it locked in my mind. I wasn't too mad that he messed up Ironhide's name, even though it was a tiny bit annoying.

"...but I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for Jazz!"

Even though I was expecting it, it was still a shock to see blue tinted headlights light up on a car sitting in the side driveway that I hadn't noticed (I _swear_ I didn't see it!), and then they flashed at me.

"Dad! No _way_!" I ran over to the car, realizing as I ran my hands over the cool, silky smooth metal, that this car blew away all of my memorabilia. All of it.

My dad was suddenly behind me, wrapping me in a huge hug. I barely noticed the flashes of lights as pictures were taken. He let me go and pressed a flat thin box, the kind you might put gloves inside, into my hands.

I blinked away tears. Must not ruin my makeup! "There's more?"

He smiled warmly. "Better."

With shaking hands, I slipped the white bow from the red box and opened the lid. I gasped and picked up the keys from the box. They were attached to a keychain that had my name done in cursive letters that were inset with... "Are these _diamonds_?"

"Only the best for my baby." He hugged me again. "Look again in the box."

"There's more?!" I did as he asked, and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. As I unfolded it, I saw the logo for Universal Studios, and when I read it, I almost dropped the paper. My hand, the one not holding the paper, flew to my mouth to try to keep the shriek inside.

It failed.

"Oh my _**Primus**_!" I screamed, and engulfed daddy in a huge, super tight, bearhug of all bearhugs. "You actually bought me Jazz?!"

"Like I said," Daddy kissed my forehead. "Nothing but the best for my baby."

When he stepped away, I turned around and pressed the unlock button on the remote. The parking lights flashed and I heard the lock undo itself. Grabbing the door handle, I gently yanked open the door and slipped inside. It was the most _awesome_ feeling ever, and it almost made me forget about Mandy's revelation.

I was in one of the hero cars from the Transformers movie. I now officially owned Jazz. The knowledge was mind-blowing. Honestly, I didn't know if I could stand up out of this car. My knees were so weak.

When I looked up and saw her standing next to my dad, taking pictures of me and my Jazz with both her little digital camera and my iPhone, I smiled brightly, but inside my heart was breaking.

Suddenly, I wanted everyone gone, but I knew this party would go on and on.

After all, we still had cake waiting for me make a wish on it and to cut and serve it to my guests.

* * *

The party did drag on and on and on, but only to me. When the cake was wheeled out, it was fragging amazing. Three tier, but huge, pink frosted with a purple ombre effect, shimmer powder on every inch, complete with Cybertronian glyphs all over in gold and silver metallic piping. It was chocolate cake, with white buttercream frosting. Well the frosting was white before the sprayed on the different colors. It was really smooth frosting. I kind of wondered if it was fondant. My dad officially broke the party up at eleven pm, on account that my neighbors wanted some time to sleep.

Anyway, it was really, really good cake. I think there was left over cake about the size of a normal sheet cake, and that was after all party guests had a piece and left with a second piece.

It was two am now, just about. 1:55 to be exact. The day of my party wasn't the day of my birthday. _Today_ was the day of my birthday. Dad did the party on a friday because it was a great way to start the weekend. He's super cool like that.

I want cake.

Slipping out of my room, I walked down the hallway towards the rear stair case. It was with a heavy heart that I walked by the guest room, where Mandy was sleeping, and decided against waking her. I was too sad to wake her up for a midnight girl talk session. I would totally cry! I didn't want my BFF to leave! We'd have Skype and we could Facetime on our phones, but it wouldn't be the same.

Once in the kitchen, I pondered about the size of the slice I'd be cutting, then grabbed a plate, knife and fork, and opened the french doors of the fridge. On the lower shelf all by itself was the cake. I held my plate and sliced a big square piece. It fell over as I nudged it onto the plate, icing side down of course, and I shut the fridge with a sigh. I also grabbed a glass of water and headed out for the patio.

The stone tiled patio was incredibly wide and it spanned the length of the rear of the house. Even though it was really hot today, the stones were a bit cool under my bare feet. I sat down on one of the outdoor recliners overlooking the pool. The whole area was amazingly clean, despite the huge party that had been going on only a handful of hours ago. The cleaning staff was great. Totally worth whatever my dad paid to rent them.

Staring up at the sky as I ate my cake, I thought about my life, my BFF, my family, just _everything_. It was so much to think about. I wanted to stop thinking but I couldn't. My fork scraped across a cake free plate, making an annoying sound in the still night air, and I sighed. Couldn't have another piece because yeah, dieting, but I scraped the frosting off of the plate anyway.

I put the plate on the ground, listening to the slight clinking sound as ceramic met stone, and sat back on the recliner. Something jabbed my hip and I reached into the pocket of my sleeping shorts and pulled out my keychain. I could just barely see the diamonds glimmering in the dim light.

Yes, I slept with my car keys in my pocket. Okay, so I didn't. They'd been on my nightstand, but yeah. I totally would've gone and sat in my car, _my __**car**_, because that was _so_ something Sam would do in a fanfic with Bumblebee, but my Jazz car is in the garage. Locked up tight.

So I sat back and looked up at the sky.

After a few minutes, I saw a bright, really bright light, streak across the sky.

"No way," I breathed out in awe. It looked like a cometary entrance of a Cybertronian! I had to make a wish! "Dear Primus, I wish Transformers were real! Only not _Dark of the Moon_ or _Age of Extinction _real, because those movies sucked. I want to save them from their stupidity. And by them I mean your kids, because _**damn**_, they made some slagging stupid choices. And yeah, some of that was Bay's fault, but no one held a plasma cannon to their helms."

If I was hoping for a flash of light, flashing as if in answer to my plea, or a chiming sound, or a rumble of laughter, I got nothing.

_Nothing_.

With a resounding sigh, I picked up my plate and went back inside. And I was so lucky, because I realized that I had left the patio door ajar and if I hadn't it would've locked me out because it locks automatically. Phew!

I went back up to bed.

* * *

I got the idea for her dad to buy her one of the Jazz production cars when I saw there'd been other cars from the Transformers movies sold at auction. I think, and I could be wrong, that the old model camaro from the first movie went for about $40,000 or so. It may be a piece of crap camaro, but it's THE piece of crap camaro, right? Right. And I think that they sold one of the Solstices, but off hand I'm not sure. I'd buy that :D If I was srsly rich :I like...srsly.

And how off the wall would it be if your mom or dad or whoever actually went out and bought you a vehicle from the Transformers movies? I don't know which one I'd want more. The not old Bumblebee camaro from the first or second movie, or the topkick from any of the movies. Except the third. That one is a bit rusty (don'tkillme,Ironhide!).


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** It was brought to my attention that I seemed a bit mean towards the issue my dad's cat, Tom, was going through, which I mentioned in the previous chapter's A/N. He'd think I was being mean, since I was the one that had to give him two different oral medicines twice a day (he _hated_ that, as did I), but I wanted to let everyone know that he's now fine and he has been since around mid November 2014. He was at the emergency vet's office for three days, he was on oxygen for two of them, had a sonogram done of his stomach, but he's now back to his full Tom awesomeness.

…

Dear Guest, who recently reviewed **A Soldier's Work**. Thank you for the flattering review. It meant a lot to me! Heartwarming and heartbreaking was exactly what I was aiming for. I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

* * *

§

Chapter Three: Bye, bye, bye

§

* * *

Three days later (I swear that time sped up because Tuesday was here in no fragging time), I was up in Mandy's bedroom, sitting on her bed and watching as she packed the contents of her closet into a huge box. She wasn't even properly folding the clothes. Just half-heartedly folding them and tossing them into the box. And the box was tall, like five feet, I swear. So, I guess it would be kind of hard to make sure they were still folded if you dropped them into a box that tall.

Anyway. I sighed out-loud and fell back against her pillows. "This fragging sucks."

"Tell me about it," Mandy also sighed and flopped onto her bed right next to me. "I have to get this done today, Jade. You did come over to help beyond making random comments, right?"

I looked over at her with a sad little smile. "Well, you do need some _serious_ help with folding."

She chuckled. "I figured that was bugging you."

"You have no idea!" I smacked at her lightly. "What you're doing practically constitutes clothing abuse."

"I'm not folding them with your clothes folder and putting tissue paper in-between each fold."

"Well, no, sadly you don't have time for that," I sat up and frowned. "But there's gotta be a better way than _this_ nightmare."

"You're not bringing your maid over."

"She's not _my_ maid," I said it only slightly defensively. "She's daddy's maid." I blinked at the look she angled my way. "What? It's a big house! I can't clean it all."

"You can barely make your own bed, Jade. I've never doubted your family's need for a maid."

"She's really great," I pouted lightly towards her when she frowned. "The more hands the merrier?"

"No."

"But, Mandy!"

"_**No**_, Jade!"

It took a little more whining and wheedling until she gave in. We're BFFs. She just knows that when I'm right, I'm right.

And I'm glad she didn't let the bickering continue. I'd hate to have these last few days with my BFF be remembered for fighting, of all things!

* * *

_Fighting, fighting, oh how I miss __**that**__ kind of fighting! When fighting was with light hearted words and half hearted slaps. _

_Now fighting is with blades, and plasma cannons, and the heavy heavy pressure of thick Cybertronian metal. _

_Dents_

_clangs_

_noise like you've never heard in your life, i guarantee that you've never heard this slag._

_**i**__ never heard it outside of a movie and even the movie c...c...can't prepare you for what it's really like to see cybertronians fight. no mere fanfic can prepare you for how brutal and animalistic it is._

_not even what happened in the movies, especially DotM, with the backstabbing, and pot shots, and Optimus with pms and no midol tearing off Megatron's head and pulling out his __**spine**__ could dare to light a candle to what __**true**__ cybertronian fighting was like._

_And I was in the thick of it_

_I was the reason for it_

_because i don't just contain the knowledge of the allspark_

_i __**am**__ the allspark...it told me so right before it sunk deep into my brain. it's taking me over._

_i don't want this anymore_

_i want my life back_

_i just want to go __**home**_

* * *

The days to Mandy leaving seemed to melt into one, yet at the same time that it felt like they dragged out. It was impossible and incredible all at once. We got to go to Chik-Fil-A in my Jazz and it was every bit as awesome as I imagined it would be.

With there being no more school, we were able to do things on a weekday that we normally wouldn't (not without getting into tons of trouble). Today, we were out getting our food on a fragging Friday at noon, of all times. Just three weeks ago, I was being bored to tears in my American History class (Mandy had been in the same creative writing class that I'd had last semester - it's totally great practice for writing kick aft fanfics!). Yes, it was important, but it was also boring. Mandy and I had killed time by texting each other back and forth for the whole class, mainly discussing our plans for the summer.

But that was before Mandy's dad got a promotion that transferred him to NYC. Mandy would be a Manhattan socialite (okay maybe not, but they were living in NYC somewhere), attending some super awesome prep school like in _Gossip Girl_, and I would be stuck here in backwoods Cali. My town made the little town in _Transformers: Prime_ look positively metropolitan in comparison.

I was a firm believer that you could totally judge the coolness of a town by the number of trendy coffee shops in it. We only had five _Starbucks_ and two _Gloria Jeans_. I mean, who can live like that? Who? So I tried to pretend that my town was cool, aka: We had a limited number of trendy shops because it was so hard to impress the council members. Ergo, my town is supa slagging exclusive! And to make it a bit more trendy (to me, anyway) I gave certain areas of town names from the Bayverse movies. The Overlook, the Pizza Hut where Sam faceplants in a fall off of his mom's pink bike, and there's even a farm that I dubbed the Lennox Farm, just because...because my town fragging sucks. I swear, I live in Mr. Hammond's flea circus.

Yet, thanks to Mandy's dad's promotion, all of my pretending to make my city as great as Tranquility was gonna be for nothing. Without Mandy, I really didn't have any friends. We were bffs, so I didn't care to make any other bffs. You were only bffs with one person. I mean, what's the point of more than one bff? I knew other teens my age, but I didn't really socialize with them. Beyond throwing a kick aft party (and I got reviews back via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram that proves it), I...I didn't really know a lot of other kids. Not as well as I know Mandy.

"You wanna drive him?"

Mandy looked over at me with a surprised expression. "What?"

"Wanna drive Jazz?" I ran my hand over his steering wheel, rubbing my thumb over the Autobot emblem embedded there. There were Autobot emblems in the center of the steering wheel, in the center of each rim, and one right on his aft (aka the trunk). I rolled my eyes over at Mandy and grinned. "I swear, the steering is so slagging responsive, it's ridiculous."

We were in the parking lot of a shopping center that only contained a Walgreens, Michael's craft store, a Petsmart, an Old Navy, a DSW, and a Radio Shack. Practically living in the 80's here. There were no cars around us, as I parked in the empty overflow lot near the road. Overflow for what crowds, I didn't know what. I mean, it's busy on Black Friday but not much else.

Mandy still looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" I chirped. "I mean, other than your mom's 350Z, all you have to drive is your dad's Murano." Mandy's family was a total supporter of Nissan. Whatever floats their boat, I guess.

"It's not that bad, Jade."

"Not that bad!" I was aghast. "The Murano is practically a boat. The size of the aft on that suv is stupid!""

"You are such an overreacting diva," Mandy chuckled, as she crumpled up the wrapping from her wrap and shoved it in the little trash bag I had in Jazz for just such an occasion.

"And you're," I paused and sighed. "Well, you're right, but still and all."

"Yes, I'd love to drive your, er, Jazz."

And so it was done. We exchanged seats, I reluctantly gave Mandy the keys to Jazz's spark, er, ignition, and we put on our seat belts. Mandy shoved the key in the ignition and I cleared my throat.

"What?"

"_Gently_, please," I reprimanded her. "Try again."

"Jade..."

"Mandy..." I cocked my eyebrow. "Once more, less jamming, more gentling."

"You're _not_ serious."

I smiled with the patience of a saint. "Yup." Did I pop the p? Of course! All the best Transfans in the world, and I'm Number One!, pop their p's!

My BFF sighed and gently took the key out and, far more gently, and slooooowy - _**yikes**_, she was fragging slow, put the key into the ignition.

"Much better." I decided to give her a few more pointers. "Make sure you gently put him into gear and gently accelerate."

"Gently accelerate? This from you? _Really_?" Mandy snorted as she gently put the shifter into drive. "I've seen you jam your foot on the gas when the light turns green. You'd think this was a rocket, not a car."

"It was totally Jazz's fault," I defended myself. "He totally took control for that moment you were talking about."

"Poor Jazz," Mandy murmured.

As we drove around the parking lot, I tapped down my inner voice that was freaking out that someone other than me was driving Jazz. In a few days, Mandy would be on her way to NYC and I'd be alone.

My stomach clenched at the thought and I was worried for a second that I'd throw up my lunch. But I sucked it up and put on a smile. Whether or not I convinced Mandy that I was okay was whatever. I knew I could pull off the part of the smiling bff who was NOT crying inside over the thought of her bff moving away forever and a day that's never.

Jazz slowed to a stop and I looked over at Mandy, releasing my hidden death grip on the edge of the seat (the side of the seat) as I did. "Why did you stop?"

"Because Jazz said that you were squeezing his seat too tightly."

My eyes widened. "He what!"

She chuckled at that, the jerk! "You're too easy to tease, Jadey."

"Meanie," I pouted, crossing my arms over my flat stomach. "You're fragging mean."

"I love you, awesome nerd," Mandy grinned over at me.

"Mandy!" I wailed out at the _Pitch Perfect_ quote. "You know I can't hate you when you say that!" I swear, she sounds _just_ like Anna Kendrick when she says it like that. It's _**uncanny**_.

"That's kind of why I said it," she said as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear. "I knew you were a bit nervous that I was driving your, uh, Jazz."

"It's okay," I said it a bit mopily. "I know this could be one of the only times you get to drive him." There was an uncomfortable pause before I said, "I don't want you to go."

"I know," Mandy's reply was nearly instantaneous. She had an instant sad face. "I don't want to go either, Jade. I won't know anyone there and...and it's New York City! It's huge!"

"And we only had a year of high school left," I chewed at my bottom lip, then blew out a sigh. "I was so fragging looking forward to being a senior with you."

"Me, too," Mandy sounded glum.

We sat in Jazz in silence, not even listening to the radio, and he's got a kick aft sound system.

Then Mandy sat up with a gasp and I jumped in my seat.

"Mandy, what the what!"

"We only have a _year_ away from each other!" She turned in her seat to face me. "Jade, just one year of school and then we can go to college! Together!"

"Holy Primus!" I gasped out. "You're right. It's just one year!" Hope filled me and I stared into her eyes. "We can do one serious year of studying, and being away from each other means we won't be tempted to go to slagging stupid parties or date boys, or get our nails done too often!"

"Yeeees..."

Mandy looked confused, so I had to inspire her some more. "I mean that we can focus on our studies so we can ace our SAT's and get into the same college without any trouble at all! We can also do volunteering so we look even better!"

"Jade, that's actually not a bad idea," Mandy looked thoughtful and chewed at one fingernail. I resisted the urge to slap her hand away from her mouth. It would be her the manicurist yelled at, not me. "We study hard, get into school, maybe even get a scholarship. Wonderful!"

"Of course it is!" I said enthusiastically. "It's a kick aft idea because I thought of it!"

When we left for _me_ to drive her home, we were both filled with more hope than we had in ages. So hard to believe it was barely a week since we got this horrible news.

The day that I said goodbye to Mandy was painful and hopeful all at once. Dad let me sleep over at Mandy's house, mainly because her parents said no to her sleeping over at my house. They were only partially joking when they said they were worried I might steal Mandy and never let her leave.

I'd actually slagging thought about it.

* * *

Jazz had let me drive him over to Mandy's house and I parked him on their half circle driveway (I think it's called a governor's drive, but idk). I parked at the far side, with Jazz's nose pointed towards the street, because in the morning there was a moving van coming for the beds and heavy furniture like the entertainment center, TV, and some bookcases or something, and they needed to be close to the front doors. Everything else had already been shipped. Mandy's parents were spooky efficient and fast.

Mandy and I were up in her room which, from the pictures of the new place that she showed me on the interwebs, was a little smaller than her new room. FYI, Mandy's room is only a little smaller than mine, and my room is very nice sized. I didn't really know where her new house was. I think she said it was in the suburbs, and about a forty minute or so drive away from the city.

Whatever. All I knew was that Mandy's house was empty. Her room was empty, save for her full sized bed. Even her carousel horse (it was a full sized replica horse from a carousel) was gone, and that thing had never been moved. Mandy didn't sell it or anything, it was already on its way to NYC or a suburb...whatever.

So, there we were, sitting up in her room, watching Netflix on her laptop. We were watching the Bring It On movie with Hayden Panettiere in it. It was a bit ironic, because Hayden's character had to move, same as Mandy did, only my bff wasn't going to a scary high school like in the movie. Mandy had showed me the website for the prep school. It was very nice. I'd have to work really hard at school, because I didn't doubt that the prep school would totally skyrocket Mandy's already smart brain.

"You're gonna miss me, right?" I looked over at Mandy. "Right?"

"Like the bratty little sister I never wanted."

I blinked. "Oh."

"I'm going to miss you tons, Jade," Mandy smiled over at me. "Never doubt that."

"I know," I made a face. "Scrap. I can't believe we have to rely on Skype."

"It's not that bad."

"Not _that_ bad?" I scrunched up my nose. "The camera always makes me look like I have a double chin, but I don't!"

Mandy laughed. "This is what I'll miss about you, Jade."

"My pain and agony?"

"No, just all this that makes up you."

I glared at her. "So my pain and agony. Nice."

She chuckled again. "Never change, okay?"

"That's a horrible thing to say!" I scoffed at her, only partially joking. "This place is like a freezer. If you don't get out, you get frozen into place."

"So work hard and get out," Mandy settled against her pillows. "Mom and Dad have already said I could ask you to come out and visit when there are holidays."

"Oh my Primus!" My eyes widened. "They are _awesome_! If I'd had known that, I would've gotten them a gift!"

"Speaking of which," Mandy leaned over, rummaged, and sat back up with something small in her hands. "I forgot part of your birthday present." She handed me a small gift bag decorated with the grand visage of Optimus Prime.

"Pit, Mandy! What did you get me?" I blinked away small tears as I took it from her. "I didn't get you anything." I studied the small bag, ignored the "**You're 5 Today, Soldier!**" word balloon coming from Optimus' head, and brushed through the white tissue paper sticking up from the bag's confines.

My fingers snagged a small bundle, wrapped in wrapping paper. I pulled it out to see... "Mater?"

Mandy shrugged. "They were out of Transformers wrapping paper. All they had left was that tow truck from Cars."

Well, at least I wouldn't feel bad when I ripped it open. I did so, tearing across Mater's face with slight glee. There was a bit more tissue paper inside, and I glared just a bit at my unabashed bff. A silver chain spilled out of the paper and I blinked stupidly at what was at the end of the chain. "Is this..."

"A shard of the all spark thing? Yeah."

"But I already have this." I mentally facepalmed myself at my idiocy. "Um, I mean, it's _lovely_, thank you."

"Dolt," Mandy shook her head. "This isn't _that_ shard of the all spark. This is Sam's shard of the all spark. The one he dropped in his bedroom."

My brain almost fritzed like Prowl's processor when faced with illogical logic. "You're _**not**_ telling me this is _**the shard**_ of the All Spark, are you? Because I'm going to marry you if it is."

"Aww, sorry to disappoint you," Mandy said teasingly. "It's not _**the shard**_, just a replica I saw online."

"In that case, I'm divorcing you." I fumbled with the clasp, then realized it was long enough for me to drape over my head and did so. It rested between my boobs and I shivered at the coldness of the metal. "And you kept this quiet from me, _how_?"

"More like how did you _not_ find it," My BFF yawned and I followed suit. "And how did you not notice that this isn't the usual shard prop?"

"You're right," I grabbed the shard and stared at it. "I'm blaming Unicron for this. It's his slagging fault somehow." The flat top of the shard had intricate etchings from what would've been the All Spark's surface, mixed with the torn look of the sides and back of the metal. It really looked like it had been warped and twisted by some great, unimaginably powerful source. "This is actual metal, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Mandy grabbed an Oreo from the bowl in front of us. "The guy I bought it from online said it was a sacred relic from the past. I said it was great PR and left him positive feedback."

"You got this on eBay?" The thought pissed me off, because I had saved searches set for every possible written description of the All Spark or a shard thereof. "I didn't even know there _were_ different shards." Even though it totally pained me to admit there was something Transformers related that I didn't know, I still admitted it. I'm not always perfect. Just most of the time.

"Well, I'd seen something on Etsy, but no where as near as nice as this one."

"Meh, probably that one chick selling the crappy trinket shard from Universal Studios." That shard, for being an authorized fragging replica, barely qualified as a replica. Cheap tacky material that wasn't even metal! I know, because I have one. So not fragging worth it. Then again, now that I think about it, there was another shard on eBay that I'd seen and thought it was Sam's shard. Turned out it was far from even remotely being screen accurate. I kind of bought it. There was a slight bidding war, and it sure as slag wasn't worth the $110 daddy ended up paying for it. Still, it was Transformers related.

Mandy nodded. "Yeah, I think that's the one."

There was a knock at the door and Mandy's mom poked her head in. "Bedtime, girls. We have an early start in the morning."

We both groaned but chimed out, "Yes, ma'am," to her mom. Elaine was a super sweet mom. My heart twisted. I didn't want any of them to leave.

"We'd better get to sleep," Mandy said it softly, and I detected the first twinges of sadness in her voice.

"I don't _want_ to," I whined out miserably. "Because that's just eight hours of sleeping instead of doing stuff with you. It's a waste of time."

"But you will anyway because you love my parents."

I rolled my eyes, mainly because she was right. Her parents put the awesome in awesome sauce. "Yeah."

After fast trips to the bathroom, Mandy to her private bathroom and me to the bathroom in the hallway, we settled in to bed. Yes, it was the same bed, no, it was not for romantic tiemz. Mandy and I are super best friends, but nothing more than that.

Even though I figured that I would be the last to fall asleep, it wasn't long before my eyes fell shut and I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Embarrassingly, I was the last to wake up. I woke up to the smells of hot coffee, pancakes, and bacon. I could hear Mandy and her parents way down in the kitchen. The sounds of silverware hitting plates drifted up the stairs, and I slipped out of bed, grabbed my clothes, and changed in the bathroom.

After packing up my stuff in my backpack, including the Optimus Prime gift bag, I went downstairs and into the kitchen. Well, I dropped off my backpack in the empty foyer first. To be honest, I'd been partially afraid of waking up and finding Mandy and her mom had already left, leaving me behind with the moving guys and her dad directing them. That wasn't their plan, but it would be my worst fragging nightmare. You know, other than Mandy moving. **That's** a horrible fragging nightmare!

What I found was all three in the kitchen, situated at the center island because the dining table and chairs were already with the rest of the stuff on the way to NYC. Mandy's parents were eating, while Mandy was getting a plate of food. Food that was, not so shockingly, from Chik-Fil-A. Mandy and I both love C-F-A!

"Morning," I greeted everyone as I grabbed a plate.

"Morning, sleepy head," Mandy's mom, Elaine, said teasingly. "We almost left without you."

"Oh, _please_ take me with you," I said with a smile as I grabbed a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit sandwich. "I promise to do the dishes and maybe even the windows."

"Maid service from Jade?" Mandy's dad, Jeffrey, said it with mock shock. They all knew me like I was their own. "Miracles never cease."

"Har, har, yuck it up," I grabbed a glass of pulp free oj and sat down next to Mandy. "You know you'll miss me."

"I'm sure Mandy has already told you there's an open invitation during holidays," Jeffrey said. "I called your father yesterday and told him the same."

"What'd he say?" I could barely contain my excitement, but did so I could take a mouthful of biscuit sandwich.

"He agreed..."

I cheered around my food.

"...on the condition that you keep your grades up to at least a B average the _**entire**_ senior year, as opposed to this year."

Much like Ironhide in DotM, the cheer died a horrible death. I finished the mouthful and chuckled weakly. "I guess he got my grades in."

Elaine smiled, looking so much like Mandy. I wondered if I favored my mom over my dad. "You'll do fine, Jade. And I know Mandy won't mind tutoring you over Skype if you need it."

"I'd be glad to," Mandy nudged my calf with her foot. "I do it now anyway, so what's a few Skype or email sessions?"

"Thanks, Mandy," I smiled gratefully at her. I mean, without her smarty smart brain, I'd have failed more classes than I passed. And that was almost half of...um...let's see, I got A's in two classes, a B in gym and biology, a C in home ec., and...wait, what? I hate math.

Which I got an F in. Bah. Too early to think about that stuff. No, do not ask how I managed to advance to senior class. I don't even know.

* * *

"I hate to cut this short, girls," Jeffrey was looking at his watch. It's a kick ass stainless steel Tissot that has a touch screen. It's mid 2000's tech, but it's still cool. "The movers are arriving in about twenty minutes, and we still need to clear the sheets from the beds we slept in last night, and do a final walkthrough."

It wasn't a mad rush to finish the food, but it came close. We ate fast and cleared the dishes. Elaine offered to do the dishes if we girls cleared the bedding. Which we did, making it a race between us and Jeffrey (we won, of course, because Mandy and I are an aft kicking team of awesome!). After putting the bedding into one of those space bags (it vacuum seals flat and this house has a weird whole house vacuum system. That's 80's tech and idk how it works so don't ask), Jeffrey asked us to look in each room to make sure nothing was left behind.

That was the creepiest thing that I was ever asked to do. Like, _ever_. Each room was empty, devoid of anything that said "Mandy and her parents live here" because they were moving. It hit me then, hard, that my bff was _leaving_. The reassurance that I could come visit was almost not enough.

As I looked into a closet, I felt the All Spark shard bounce on its chain. It was comforting, and felt like a normal weight on my body as if I've always had it, even though I had just gotten it last night. Sadly, we got through each room very fast. Soon enough, it was time to leave.

The moving van had pulled into the driveway while all of us had done the walk-around, and Jeffrey was showing the movers into the house and up the stairs to the bedrooms. Mandy led me into the kitchen, where Elaine had two coolers waiting. One had drinks in it and the other had food. I knew because I had watched Mandy help her mom load them up before the walk-around.

"Jade, can you take these home?" Elaine gave me a Chik-Fil-A bag. "It's just the left overs from breakfast, but I figured you and your dad could eat them. They won't last through the trip. They'll spoil too easily."

Numbly, I nodded and took the bag. I knew it was uncharacteristic of me to be so quiet, but I couldn't help it. I felt like falling into a mess of tears, but knew I had to keep it together until I got home. I wouldn't risk Jazz's safety because I was crying and hurt him from distraction.

Things moved fast after that. I swear, I blinked and the movers had moved the beds out and into the van, followed by another blink and it was the bed frames and headboards, then another blink and it was the tv and entertainment center, and another blink and there went the huge book cases from the great room.

And then it was _**time**_.

Jeffrey and Elaine gave me hugs and made me promise to do good in school. Mandy handed me Jazz's keys and my backpack and gave me a super tight bear hug of sorrow.

"Be good, Jadey," Mandy whispered it fiercely in my ear. She squeezed me tight in her hug. "We can see each other on Skype. Plus, I'll text you every mile, and when we reach the hotel tonight, I'll call you. We can Facetime."

"Mandy, I don't want you to leave," I sniffled, barely able to contain it. "I just feel like something fragging crazy is gonna happen without you here."

"You rely too much on your gut, Jade," Mandy pulled back with a smile. "You're so weird."

"I know, but you love me."

"You know I do, awesome nerd."

My eyes burned with unshed tears and my throat was thick with emotion. "I miss you already."

"Me too," Mandy said, and her lower lip quivered a little. "You have my Apple ID and password. You can track our trip."

"I'm already on it," I clutched my iphone in my hand, where I had the Find My iPhone app already up and running. "Have a safe trip."

"We will," Mandy gave me another quick hug and ran over to her dad's deep purple suv. It's pretty nice looking for a Nissan suv, really elegant looking. It looks a bit like an egg to me, but a really elegant egg. It was elegant even with Nissan Jazz the red 350Z tied down to a trailer that was hooked up to the suv's bumper. The door Mandy pulled open was open and closed in seconds as she hopped in, then the window rolled down, and she stuck her head out and waved. "I'll call you tonight!"

I waved back as I fumbled with Jazz's keys, unlocking the door with the remote. "I'll stalk you if you don't!"

Actually, thanks to the iphone tracking app, I already kind of was stalking her.

The sound of the house door closing behind me was loud, final. I turned around to see Jeffrey coming down the stairs from the house (there were only five steps, and the porch was short, almost like a stoop - okay so their house reminds me slightly of the house in Home Alone. Just the outside. The inside of this house is way cooler than the movie house.). He passed by the van, where the movers were already in the van and about ready to leave the driveway. They didn't need to travel with Mandy and her folks. They knew the way and could wait at the new house if they outpaced Mandy's dad.

"Bye, Mr. Cooper," I said to Jeffrey.

He paused and got a hug from me (Elaine got one earlier). "Stay safe, Jade."

"I will," I stepped back and smiled up at him. "Have a good, safe trip. And good luck with the job!"

"Thanks, Jade," he waved. "Take care!"

They waited for me to get into Jazz before they left, and even though I wanted to follow them longer than to the end of the street, when we got to the end of the street, they went right and I went left. I paused, because there was no traffic this early in the morning (10:30!) and watched their suv until the moving van, and another right turn, blocked my view of my BFF and her parents.

The drive home sucked, but was uneventful.

When I got to my bedroom, I shut the door and alternated between tracking her iphone and crying.

I miss you already, Mandy.

* * *

Poor Jade. It stinks when a good friend moves away. Worse when it's your bff. Worse when your life is about to be flip turned upside down.

Wait for it.

Waaaaaiiiiiit for it.

it's coming.

Not yet, but soon. I promise!


End file.
